The NV center as a quantum actuator: time-optimal control of nuclear spins

TL;DR

This paper investigates the use of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond as quantum actuators for controlling nuclear spins, focusing on time-optimal control sequences and their efficiency compared to direct driving methods.

Contribution

It introduces a strategy to find time-optimal control sequences for quantum actuators and compares their performance with direct control, highlighting regimes of improved efficiency.

Findings

Quantum actuator control can outperform direct driving in certain regimes.

Time-optimal control sequences are identified for NV center-based systems.

The approach enhances manipulation of weakly coupled nuclear spins.

Abstract

Indirect control of qubits by a quantum actuator has been proposed as an appealing strategy to manipulate qubits that couple only weakly to external fields. While universal quantum control can be easily achieved when the actuator-qubit coupling is anisotropic, the efficiency of this approach is less clear. Here we analyze the time-efficiency of the quantum actuator control. We describe a strategy to find time-optimal control sequence by the quantum actuator and compare their gate times with direct driving, identifying regimes where the actuator control performs faster. As an example, we focus on a specific implementation based on the Nitrogen-Vacancy center electronic spin in diamond (the actuator) and nearby carbon-13 nuclear spins (the qubits).